Carolina Snow With Temps in the 50s!

After my earlier report on snowfall in the North Carolina mountains, it turns out that some snow and sleet fell in the Piedmont later this afternoon, while temperatures were in the 50's!

The National Weather Service in Raleigh, NC explains how this happened:

PRECIPITATION ALOFT... MOSTLY IN THE FORM OF SNOW... FELL AND EVAPORATED INTO A VERY DRY LAYER OF ABOVE FREEZING AIR IN THE LOWEST 5000 FEET OVER CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON. THE EVAPORATION... AND AT TIMES MELTING OF THE PRECIPITATION... CAUSED THE ATMOSPHERE TO SIMULTANEOUSLY MOISTEN AND COOL FROM THE TOP OF THE DRY LAYER DOWN TOWARD THE SURFACE. THUS... THE DEPTH OF THE ABOVE FREEZING LAYER WAS SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED... WHICH ALLOWED SLEET AND PARTIALLY MELTED SNOWFLAKES TO REACH THE GROUND... EVEN WHILE SURFACE TEMPERATURES WERE IN THE UPPER 40S TO LOWER 50S AT THE ONSET OF THE PRECIPITATION. THE TEMPERATURES COOLED QUICKLY INTO THE UPPER 30S AND LOWER 40S BY LATE AFTERNOON... FALLING AS MUCH AS 10 DEGREES IN AN HOUR AT SEVERAL LOCATIONS.

Temperatures in NC @ 3 PM, Just Before Frozen Precip Started

THE MIXED PRECIPITATION OCCURRED MAINLY BETWEEN 200 PM AND 400 PM... BEFORE BECOMING LIQUID IN ALL BUT THE FAR NORTHWEST PIEDMONT. IN THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT... THERE WAS STILL A MIXTURE OF SNOW AND SLEET AT TIMES... ESPECIALLY OVER FORSYTH AND NORTHWEST GUILFORD COUNTIES (AS OF 715 PM).

Sure enough, I checked some of the observations and this is what I saw:

Pope Air Force Base, NC: 2 PM: Sleet, 52 F
Raleigh, NC: 3:34 PM : Sleet, 52 F

I remember once, growing up in North Carolina, seeing snow at 54 degrees in... April 1984 I think? It's strange stuff but it happens.

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